Marquez takes blistering pole in Australia with heartache for Pedrosa in 4th

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken an incredible pole position – his 30th in MotoGP – as he chases his first win in the premier class at Phillip Island, but unfortunately teammate Dani Pedrosa was demoted from second to fourth in the dying seconds of qualifying.

Since yesterday’s FP2, Marc has led every session here in Phillip Island and immediately shot to the top on his first exit in qualifying. On his second run, Marc was on track to improve his time again however, a big moment in turn four – where he was lucky to save the bike from crashing – forced him back into the pits for new rubber for his final third exit. Marc delivered an incredible lap, improving his first run by three tenths with a time of 1’28.364 and securing pole position.

Dani found traffic on his first flying lap but was then able to get a fast lap in. On his second run, he improved by half a second and his time of ￼1’28.712 placed him second with just a handful of riders remaining. However, in the final moments, Lorenzo and Iannone crossed the line with identical times just 0.032 seconds ahead of Dani and relegated him to fourth.

Tomorrow’s race will begin at 16h00 local time.

Marc Marquez

1st1'28.364

"I am pleased with how the day went, and of course with pole position! Thanks to the team for all their work, we have a good pace for tomorrow and we are ready to fight for the podium and hopefully the victory tomorrow. However we must wait and see what happens, because here every day is different; it can be sunny but then all of a sudden clouds can appear, and the key will be interpreting how the track conditions are, in order to have a good race."

Dani Pedrosa

4th1'28.712

"Today was a difficult day, especially in the morning. It was quite cold and very windy, and I had problems in FP3, which did not go well. FP4 went somewhat better, although my pace was still not amongst the fastest. However, in the qualifying session we managed to improve a lot, finally setting a good lap time and qualifying well."

MotoGP 2015Saturday, October 17th 2015

Qualifying
Round 16
Pramac Australian Grand PrixAustralia

Results Session

Sunny

Humidity

63%

Track Temp

41°C

Air Temp

16°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'28.364

2

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'28.680

3

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Yamaha

1'28.680

4

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

1'28.712

5

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

Honda

1'28.912

6

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'28.932

7

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Yamaha

1'29.014

8

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1'29.015

9

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1'29.222

10

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'29.267

11

Redding Scott

45

GBR

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

1'29.499

12

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1'29.626

13

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'29.918

14

Barbera Hector

8

SPA

Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'30.064

15

Miller Jack

43

AUS

LCR Honda MotoGP

Honda

1'30.104

16

Laverty Eugene

50

IRE

Aspar Team

Honda

1'30.105

17

Hernandez Yonny

68

COL

Pramac Racing

Ducati

1'30.135

18

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'30.147

19

Baz Loris

76

FRA

Athina Forward Racing

Forward Yamaha

1'30.173

21

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

1'30.634

22

Di Meglio Mike

63

FRA

Avintia Racing

Ducati

1'30.959

23

West Anthony

13

AUS

AB Motoracing

Honda

1'31.205

24

Elias Toni

24

SPA

Athina Forward Racing

Forward Yamaha

1'31.837

25

Cudlin Damian

55

AUS

E-Motion IodaRacing Team

ART

1'33.884

Gallery

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Location Information

Phillip Island, the self-styled home of Australian motorsport, is steeped in motor racing tradition, with the first car races having been held there on public roads in the 1920s. The first motorcycle races took place in 1931 and a permanent track was built in 1956. The circuit fell into disrepair… read more.

Location Information

Phillip Island, the self-styled home of Australian motorsport, is steeped in motor racing tradition, with the first car races having been held there on public roads in the 1920s. The first motorcycle races took place in 1931 and a permanent track was built in 1956. The circuit fell into disrepair… read more.